Unconventional Superconductivity in Samarium Nitride

<p>We have studied the nature of unconventional superconductivity in the rare-earth nitride (REN) samarium nitride (SmN) for the purposes of providing a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that lead to such a phenomenon in an already extremely interesting material. An approximate low energy model has been introduced for SmN based on previous bandstructure calculation and recent experimental results. This consists of the non-dispersive 4f band associated with the samarium ion crossing through the dispersive 5d band associated with the nitrogen ion. Due to large spin polarisation in the bandstructure we need only consider the majority-spin 5d and 4f bands which lead to an essentially spinless two band system. Starting from this two band system, we apply the k dot p method to it in order to create an effective model for the system. This effective model for the material acts as the platform from which we study the possible triplet superconducting pairing. Basing our pairing on the electron-phonon interaction we have postulated the existence of triplet pairing in the 5d band, from which we have successfully characterised the pair potential in this system through the self-consistency equation. The pair potential Delta_d could be solved analytically in a special case where the Fermi level was equal to the 4f band. In this case we find that above a threshold effective coupling strength the superconducting state is established and analytically known. In contrast to this result for the more general case where the Fermi level is different to the 4f band we numerically recover a solution that was exponential in the effective coupling strength which is similar to the pairing as we expect from the single band case. Analytic solutions in this case were not able to be found, however, we know that from our numerical investigations there will exist a solution for any effective coupling strength, contrasting with the special case where the pairing amplitude can disappear below a certain threshold. In conjunction to these results we also examined the situation where the 5d and 4f bands have hybridised together in order to search for unique pairing that may be resistant to disorder. By keeping the triplet pairing only in the 5d band, this translates to hybrid pairing between electrons in the two hybridised bands. Results from the hybridised bands system show a new singlet-like pairing Delta_S which is even in k and singlet in the hybridised band indices. Preliminary numerical results suggest that this pairing indeed exists and occurs only near the avoided crossing of the hybridised bands. The existence of such a pairing, originating from triplet pairing, has exciting implications for the robustness of the superconductivity in the presence of disorder and/or impurities.</p>

Unconventional Superconductivity in Samarium Nitride

<p>We have studied the nature of unconventional superconductivity in the rare-earth nitride (REN) samarium nitride (SmN) for the purposes of providing a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that lead to such a phenomenon in an already extremely interesting material. An approximate low energy model has been introduced for SmN based on previous bandstructure calculation and recent experimental results. This consists of the non-dispersive 4f band associated with the samarium ion crossing through the dispersive 5d band associated with the nitrogen ion. Due to large spin polarisation in the bandstructure we need only consider the majority-spin 5d and 4f bands which lead to an essentially spinless two band system. Starting from this two band system, we apply the k dot p method to it in order to create an effective model for the system. This effective model for the material acts as the platform from which we study the possible triplet superconducting pairing. Basing our pairing on the electron-phonon interaction we have postulated the existence of triplet pairing in the 5d band, from which we have successfully characterised the pair potential in this system through the self-consistency equation. The pair potential Delta_d could be solved analytically in a special case where the Fermi level was equal to the 4f band. In this case we find that above a threshold effective coupling strength the superconducting state is established and analytically known. In contrast to this result for the more general case where the Fermi level is different to the 4f band we numerically recover a solution that was exponential in the effective coupling strength which is similar to the pairing as we expect from the single band case. Analytic solutions in this case were not able to be found, however, we know that from our numerical investigations there will exist a solution for any effective coupling strength, contrasting with the special case where the pairing amplitude can disappear below a certain threshold. In conjunction to these results we also examined the situation where the 5d and 4f bands have hybridised together in order to search for unique pairing that may be resistant to disorder. By keeping the triplet pairing only in the 5d band, this translates to hybrid pairing between electrons in the two hybridised bands. Results from the hybridised bands system show a new singlet-like pairing Delta_S which is even in k and singlet in the hybridised band indices. Preliminary numerical results suggest that this pairing indeed exists and occurs only near the avoided crossing of the hybridised bands. The existence of such a pairing, originating from triplet pairing, has exciting implications for the robustness of the superconductivity in the presence of disorder and/or impurities.</p>

Superconductivity coexisting with ferromagnetism in a quasi-one dimensional non-centrosymmetric (TaSe4)3I

Low-dimensional materials with broken inversion symmetry and strong spin-orbit coupling can give rise to fascinating quantum phases and phase transitions. Here we report coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism below 2.5 K in the quasione dimensional crystals of non-centrosymmetric (TaSe4)3I (space group: P¯421c). The unique phase is a direct consequence of inversion symmetry breaking as the same material also stabilizes in a centro-symmetric structure (space group: P4/mnc) where it behaves like a non-magnetic insulator[1–4]. The coexistence here upfront contradicts the popular belief that superconductivity and ferromagnetism are two apparently antagonistic phenomena. Notably, here, for the first time, we have clearly detected Meissner effect in the superconducting state despite the coexisting ferromagnetic order. The coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism projects non-centrosymmetric (TaSe4)3I as a host for complex ground states of quantum matter including possible unconventional superconductivity with elusive spin-triplet pairing[5–8].

Spectroscopic evidence of mixed angular momentum symmetry in non-centrosymmetric Ru$$_7$$B$$_3$$

Superconducting crystals with a lack of inversion symmetry can potentially host unconventional pairing. However, till today, no direct conclusive experimental evidence of such unconventional order parameters in non-centrosymmetric superconductors has been reported. In this paper, through direct measurement of the superconducting energy gap by scanning tunnelling spectroscopy, we report the existence of both s-wave (singlet) and p-wave (triplet) pairing symmetries in non-centrosymmetric Ru$$_7$$ 7 B$$_3$$ 3 . Our temperature and magnetic field-dependent studies also indicate that the relative amplitudes of the singlet and triplet components change differently with temperature.

Observation of triplet superconductivity in CoSi2/TiSi2 heterostructures

Unconventional superconductivity and, in particular, triplet superconductivity have been front and center of topological materials and quantum technology research. Here, we report our observation of triplet pairing in nonmagnetic CoSi2/TiSi2 heterostructures on silicon. CoSi2 undergoes a sharp superconducting transition at a critical temperature Tc ≃ 1.5 K, while TiSi2 is a normal metal. We investigate conductance spectra of both two-terminal CoSi2/TiSi2 contact junctions and three-terminal T-shaped CoSi2/TiSi2 superconducting proximity structures. Below Tc, we observe (i) a narrow zero-bias conductance peak on top of a broad hump, accompanied by two symmetric side dips in the contact junctions, (ii) a narrow zero-bias conductance peak in T-shaped structures, and (iii) hysteresis in the junction magnetoresistance. These three independent and complementary observations point to chiral p-wave pairing in CoSi2/TiSi2 heterostructures. The excellent fabrication compatibility of CoSi2 and TiSi2 with present-day silicon-based integrated-circuit technology suggests their potential use in scalable quantum-computing devices.

Evidence for even parity unconventional superconductivity in Sr2RuO4

Unambiguous identification of the superconducting order parameter symmetry in Sr2RuO4 has remained elusive for more than a quarter century. While a chiral p-wave ground state analogue to superfluid 3He-A was ruled out only very recently, other proposed triplet-pairing scenarios are still viable. Establishing the condensate magnetic susceptibility reveals a sharp distinction between even-parity (singlet) and odd-parity (triplet) pairing since the superconducting condensate is magnetically polarizable only in the latter case. Here field-dependent 17O Knight shift measurements, being sensitive to the spin polarization, are compared to previously reported specific heat measurements for the purpose of distinguishing the condensate contribution from that due to quasiparticles. We conclude that the shift results can be accounted for entirely by the expected field-induced quasiparticle response. An upper bound for the condensate magnetic response of <10% of the normal state susceptibility is sufficient to exclude all purely odd-parity candidates.

Anomalous normal fluid response in a chiral superconductor UTe2

Chiral superconductors have been proposed as one pathway to realize Majorana normal fluid at its boundary. However, the long-sought 2D and 3D chiral superconductors with edge and surface Majorana normal fluid are yet to be conclusively found. Here, we report evidence for a chiral spin-triplet pairing state of UTe2 with surface normal fluid response. The microwave surface impedance of the UTe2 crystal was measured and converted to complex conductivity, which is sensitive to both normal and superfluid responses. The anomalous residual normal fluid conductivity supports the presence of a significant normal fluid response. The superfluid conductivity follows the temperature behavior predicted for an axial spin-triplet state, which is further narrowed down to a chiral spin-triplet state with evidence of broken time-reversal symmetry. Further analysis excludes trivial origins for the observed normal fluid response. Our findings suggest that UTe2 can be a new platform to study exotic topological excitations in higher dimension.

Chiral singlet superconductivity in the weakly correlated metal LaPt3P

Chiral superconductors are novel topological materials with finite angular momentum Cooper pairs circulating around a unique chiral axis, thereby spontaneously breaking time-reversal symmetry. They are rather scarce and usually feature triplet pairing: a canonical example is the chiral p-wave state realized in the A-phase of superfluid He3. Chiral triplet superconductors are, however, topologically fragile with the corresponding gapless boundary modes only weakly protected against symmetry-preserving perturbations in contrast to their singlet counterparts. Using muon spin relaxation measurements, here we report that the weakly correlated pnictide compound LaPt3P has the two key features of a chiral superconductor: spontaneous magnetic fields inside the superconducting state indicating broken time-reversal symmetry and low temperature linear behaviour in the superfluid density indicating line nodes in the order parameter. Using symmetry analysis, first principles band structure calculation and mean-field theory, we unambiguously establish that the superconducting ground state of LaPt3P is a chiral d-wave singlet.